“Kieran!” Faith turned to see a very pretty young blonde woman balanced on sky-high heels waving and making her way over to their table.
“Natalie,” Kieran acknowledged with a polite nod. Was it her imagination, or did she see a flicker of irritation in Kieran’s expression? Was this one of the women Lacie had alluded to?
Natalie tore her eyes away from Kieran only long enough to take in Faith and Matt and summarily dismiss them as unimportant. “I had a wonderful time the other night,” she said silkily. Suggestively. Faith’s eyes widened as she felt the rush of color rising up into her cheeks. Matt gaped at the substantial amount of cleavage revealed as Natalie leaned in a bit closer.
* * *
Wrenching his gaze away from Faith, Kieran cursed silently in his mind. This was exactly what he had been hoping to avoid. After spending the day around Sean, Lacie, Faith, and Matt, he’d had no desire whatsoever to return to his lonely room at the Pub. He didn’t go out on his own much anymore, either. It just wasn’t worth the hassle of being approached every ten minutes when women realized he was flying solo.
Of all the women he dreaded running into, Natalie topped the list. While unarguably stunning, she was about as far removed from what Kieran was searching for as possible. Self-absorbed, vain, and spoiled were just a few of the words that leapt to mind, all within the first five minutes of their ill-fated date less than a week earlier.
Kieran did follow through with a nice dinner, but ended the evening as soon as respectably possible. He had thought he’d been quite clear in his polite but firm assertion that he would not be calling her again. He believed honesty was the best – if not the always the most welcome – policy, and wanted to avoid any false expectations.
But, he thought as her cloying perfume wound its way into his sinus cavities, he obviously had not made it clear enough. Or, it was more likely that she just did not know how to take “no” for an answer. As she had so often alluded during their few hours together, she was used to getting what she wanted. At some point, unfortunately, she had decided that she wanted him.
Kieran stole a glance at Faith, saw her feigning great interest in the laminated maps of Italy on the backs of the menus, discussing the different regions with Matt. Head bowed, her dark waves cascaded over her shoulders as she tried to politely pretend she wasn’t listening. Even from where he sat he could see the pink blush stealing across her cheeks. Her discomfort made the unfortunate interruption even more so.
In that moment, he knew what he wanted. And it was not Natalie.
“Wanna do it again sometime?” she pressed when Kieran didn’t seem likely to take her not-so-subtle bait.
She emphasized her point by leaning over the table, right in front of Faith, showcasing her fabulous cleavage even more. Faith shrunk farther back in the booth, obviously uncomfortable. Because his eyes had been trained on her, he didn’t miss it, and it annoyed him. They’d been having such a nice time together. Matt was funny and had a quick and clever wit. And Faith was absolutely breathtaking when she was relaxed and smiling.
“Maybe your friend would like to join us,” Faith suggested quietly. She offered a polite smile. Matt had not yet learned how to mask his feelings quite as well, though his scowl wasn’t as noticeable as it might have been.
One look confirmed that Faith was pulling back into herself again. Damn it! She had just started to relax around him. He didn’t like the tension in her shoulders or the way she wouldn’t look at him. He wanted to see her eyes sparkling – she had the most amazing soft gray eyes that shone like polished silver when she smiled.
Natalie looked thrilled with the idea and made a move to slide in next to Kieran, but he was not as amenable. “No, I’m sure she wouldn’t,” Kieran said, flashing a warning glance at Natalie. Their eyes met for a moment, and Kieran’s were not nearly as kind and courteous as they had been. On the contrary, they were frosty and laced with warning. “Your friends are waiting for you, Natalie.”
As pouts go, Natalie’s was classic, but Kieran’s message apparently got through. The waitress arrived with their food and Natalie stalked off to a different table to sulk. Kieran didn’t look her way for the rest of the evening, but he could feel Natalie’s eyes on them. Given the few uncomfortable glances he saw Faith make in that direction a couple of times, he was sure she was aware of Natalie’s less-than-cordial glares shot toward them during their meal.
“Sorry about that,” Kieran apologized into the awkward silence that had descended upon them with Natalie’s exit. The comfortable, relaxed atmosphere they’d been enjoying only a few minutes earlier was gone.
“No problem,” Faith said with forced lightness.
Any hopes he had of rekindling the easy comradery were quickly dashed. Faith made a point of avoiding his gaze and kept her conversational contributions to a minimum. Thankfully, Matt didn’t seem to feel the same sense of discomfort; they managed to maintain a nice dialogue throughout the remainder of the meal.
“I had fun tonight,” Kieran said later as he hung outside Faith’s front door, reluctant to leave. “Thank you.”
“We did, too,” Faith responded politely. Her soft gray eyes flicked to his for just a moment, and he saw the blatant little white lie in them. He silently cursed Natalie again.
“I’m sorry about Natalie,” he began, hoping to explain, but Faith cut him off by raising her hand. “Don’t be. She seemed very, uh, interested. I hope we didn’t make things too awkward for you.” She bit her bottom lip, looking embarrassed.
Kieran blinked, bemused. Jesus! Is that what she thought? “What? No, of course not. I - ”
“Good,” she said quickly, looking anything but relieved. “Thanks again. Goodnight.” Then she hurriedly stepped inside and closed the door, leaving him standing on the porch wondering what the hell had just happened.
* * *
“He likes you,” Matt said, startling her. She hadn’t even realized she’d been standing just inside the door. Matt had already changed into a pair of pajama bottoms, so she must have been in a daze for a couple of minutes at least.
“I think Kieran is the type of man who likes everyone, Matt,” she said, brushing aside the tiny thrill that ran through her at Matt’s words, even as images of the immaculately coiffed and voluptuous Natalie wormed their way into her mind. If that was the type of woman that Kieran Callaghan courted, then she had even less than a snowball’s chance in hell of catching his interest. Faith was the anti-Natalie.
“Don’t read anything more into it.” There was no place in her life for silly things like that. She was a grown woman, a single mother with a teenage son. And Kieran was a nice guy.
A really hot, incredibly sexy, gorgeous, muscular, nice guy who helped them out.
Because he was a nice guy.
“He didn’t like Natalie,” Matt smirked, attempting to mimic the seductive way the young woman had spoken to Kieran.
Yes, he did, Faith thought as she held back a dejected sigh. At least once, anyway. Maybe more, based on the look of desire in the woman’s eyes. Though it had appeared that Natalie was a whole lot more impressed with Kieran than Kieran had been with her. Faith probably shouldn’t have taken as much pleasure in that thought as she did.
Lacie’s words came back to her again. Kieran had lots of women interested, and for good reason. Did this kind of thing happen all the time?
Maybe he was that way with all of the women he dated. She’d known men like that. Men who prided themselves on hooking up with as many women as possible, but having a set threshold of encounters to avoid things from ‘getting complicated’.
Somehow that didn’t quite ring true with the impression she’d formed of him throughout the day, but she had no reasonable basis for that. She’d known Kieran for all of what, twelve hours? How could she possibly know what he was like? She’d been wrong before, and with men she’d spent a lot more time around than a mere half day. So what if he had affected her more in that short span of time than anyone else
had in the last fourteen years?
It was a depressing thought. Pine Ridge wasn’t that big. Was she bound to run into Kieran groupies wherever she went? It was only their second night in their new town and already she had managed to make an enemy. The notion settled in her chest like a heavy stone.
“She was very pretty,” Faith sighed. And young. Really young, not just young-looking like people told her she was. And blonde. With the toned body of a Zumba instructor. She probably drove a sporty little red convertible, too. Bitch, her snarky side added on for good measure.
“Not as pretty as you,” Matt said sincerely. Faith felt the tears start to well up in her eyes and had to look away. Someday all too soon her sweet son would understand what drew men’s attentions. Blue collar single moms who didn’t have the time or money for things like salons and fitness memberships weren’t at the top of the desirable date list. But for now, she would gratefully accept her son’s heartfelt compliment.
“You should go out with him,” Matt said firmly, apparently having thought about it and deciding the issue.
Faith’s mouth dropped open. “Excuse me?” Never had she heard anything remotely similar come out of her son’s mouth. He was usually very protective, and had a trademark scowl reserved for any man who exhibited the least amount of interest in her.
“You should go out with him,” Matt repeated with exaggerated patience. “I like him. He’s cool.”
“First of all, you barely know him. And second, I don’t have time for that kind of stuff,” Faith said. She bit her lip to avoid adding number three – Kieran hadn’t asked.
She was still reeling as much from her son’s declaration as the fact that he seemed to genuinely take to Kieran. It certainly wouldn’t hurt for him to have a positive male influence in his life. Faith knew as well as anyone how difficult the next few years could be, and based on what she’d seen so far, Matt could certainly have picked a lot worse for a role model.
“But I don’t think I’d have a problem if he wanted to take you to a game or something,” she amended.
To her further surprise, Matt grinned. “I was hoping you’d say that. Kieran’s doing that martial arts demo tomorrow in town, and he did say we could stop by. Can we go?”
It was amazing how fast ‘you should’ became ‘can we’, she mused, but she felt some measure of relief. Dealing with her son’s desire to attend a martial arts demo was more in her comfort zone than her desire to... Faith slammed a heavy brick wall down on that avenue of thought before it could make it any farther along what was certainly a dead-end.
“What time is the demo?” she asked. “I was hoping we could get a few more things done before I start work on Monday.”
“Kieran said you’d probably say that,” Matt said. “So he said if you brought me down, he’d bring me home and then he’d help with whatever.”
“He did, huh? When did you guys decide all this?”
“When you went to the ladies room. So can we?”
As if on cue, Matt’s cell phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen and then looked impatiently back at Faith. “Can we?”
“Who just texted you?” Faith asked, having a sneaking suspicion she already knew the answer.
“Kieran,” Matt said unapologetically. “Well?”
Faith exhaled. Kieran had Matt’s cell number, too? He hadn’t asked for her number. Then again, she wouldn’t be surprised if Matt had already provided Kieran with her number, too, given the way he was acting.
She promptly popped that little bubble of hope the moment it tried to surface. So what if he did? It wasn’t like Kieran would call her.
Matt looked at her expectantly, waiting for an answer. She should tell him no, that they had far too much to do around the new house and property. But the truth was, it was good to see Matt so excited about something. He rarely asked for anything, and a ride into town wasn’t an unreasonable request, especially when she had planned on heading that way anyway to check out the farmer’s market again to scope out prices on used furniture and second-hand items.
And she would get to see Kieran again, an inner voice pointed out.
“I guess,” she said finally, laughing when Matt whooped and started texting Kieran immediately. “He says the demo starts at noon and lasts till two.”
Faith nodded. She could rise early and get some sketches done, then take Matt into town. With any luck, they wouldn’t cross paths with more Natalies in the process.
Chapter Six
“This place is awesome,” Matt declared the moment they pulled into the parking lot and saw the state-of-the-art structure that was BodyWorks. Three visible stories of brick and dark glass that somehow fit perfectly against the scenic mountain backdrop. The outside, however, was nothing compared to the inside. Black marble and gold abounded in the entry way along with huge ferns and plants creating a lush, cordial atmosphere.
Faith had to agree with Matt’s initial assessment. The interior was beautifully done; it was understated and ultra-modern yet warm and welcoming. She would have expected to feel woefully out of place in a fitness center, but strangely enough, she didn’t. There were people of all ages, all sizes, all walks of life milling about. Some wore expensive-looking designer fitness wear; others sported the same cotton tees and shorts she bought from the end-of-season clearance rack at Walmart.
“Can I help you?” said a friendly-looking woman from behind the black marble Member Services check-in desk. The recessed lighting made the highlights in her hair shimmer like spun threads of gold. Young and extremely attractive in a form-fitting black BodyWorks polo embroidered with the name Phoebe and black boy shorts, her million watt smile nearly blinded them. Faith self-consciously tugged on her plain white, short-sleeved cotton blouse.
“We’re here to see the martial arts demo,” Matt said, his eyes wide as he tried to take in everything at once. “Kieran invited us.”
The young woman nodded. “Faith and Matt, right?”
Faith nodded, nonplussed. How could this woman possibly know their names?
“Great! He wanted to know the moment you arrived.” The woman pressed a button on the console and spoke into the small microphone near her flat screen. “Mr. Callaghan, your guests are here.” She paused briefly, and Faith realized she was listening to the very tiny receiver tucked around her right ear. “Yes, sir.” Pressing another button, Phoebe looked up at them and grinned again. “Mr. Callaghan will be down shortly. Paul will take you down to the café.”
Paul stepped forward. Like Phoebe, he wore a black BodyWorks polo embroidered with his name, but instead of shorts, he sported thin men’s workout pants.
“Hi.” Every bit as attractive and fit as Phoebe, his grin was equally devastating. He gave Faith a knowing grin. “First time?”
She nodded. Paul laughed easily. “I know. A bit overwhelming, right? Don’t worry. You get used to it.”
“Oh, we’re just here for the demo,” Faith told him, expecting Paul’s friendly façade to fade once he realized they would not be the source of his next commission, but he remained as pleasant as ever, leading them over to the café. The subtly lit board boasted the Celtic Goddess name, along with a dizzying assortment of organic, healthy fare choices.
“What can I get for you?” he asked expectantly.
“Oh, uh, nothing, thanks,” Faith stammered. There were no prices listed, and she heard her mother’s voice echoing in her mind: If you have to ask how much it is, you can’t afford it.
Working for the Goddess as she did, Faith knew that even the smallest item was out of her price range; she could only imagine how expensive some of those exotic (but delicious) sounding smoothies were, let alone the healthy cuisine that smelled so heavenly. There was a reason the Celtic Goddess was as wildly successful as it was. As well as being out-of-this-world good, it was well-known for being completely organic. Whoever ran this place was smart to incorporate it into the overall package.
“Are you sure?” Paul asked, his smile slipping a
bit. “It’s on the house.”
Matt looked hopefully at Faith, but she shook her head slightly. She had no intention of abusing Kieran’s generosity any more than they already had. “Thank you, but we’re sure.”
Paul frowned, looking uncomfortable. Faith didn’t understand why until Kieran appeared a few moments later. She caught her breath. He looked amazing in his BodyWorks outfit, the form-fitting black showcasing his magnificent physique and making his incredible blue eyes stand out even more than usual.
Kieran was all smiles as he greeted them, but less so when he turned to Paul. “You didn’t get them something?”
Color rose upward from Paul’s collar as he shook his head. “He offered, several times,” Faith said quickly, not wanting to get Paul into trouble. “But we had something just before we came.” Paul shot her a grateful glance.
“Wow, Kieran. This place is awesome,” Matt said.
Kieran’s easy grin returned. “Glad you like it.”
“Are you like a manager or something?” Matt asked, his voice full of hero worship.
“Or something,” Kieran chuckled. Faith didn’t fail to notice the hint of a smirk on Paul’s face. She thought back to the woman at the reception desk, at the way everyone referred to him as “Mr. Callaghan” and the obvious air of respect they had for him. Her knees nearly buckled at the obvious answer. He didn’t just work here. He owned the place.
“Come on, I’ll give you a tour before the demo starts.”
When Faith hung back, assuming he was talking to Matt, Kieran reached out for her hand with a half-grin. It did nothing for her sudden lack of muscle control from the waist down. “You, too, Faith.”
Kieran’s much larger hand swallowed hers. The immediate jolt that raced through her system left her heart thudding in her chest. She glanced up at Kieran. His eyes widened as if he had felt it too, and then met hers. For a brief moment she saw his surprise. Faith tugged her hand back quickly, offering a quick apology.
Having Faith: Callaghan Brothers, Book 7 Page 6
